Casablanca | Canadian First Time Watching | Movie Reaction | Movie Review | Movie Commentary

[@joefriedman9843]

"yea he's a scumbag, but the actor who plays him is extremely charming and it's very confusing" maybe the single greatest description I've ever heard of Claude Rains' character in this movie haha

[@mikeg2306]

It’s ironic that Claude Rains most famous role was that of the Invisible Man where he wasn’t seen until the very end. He was great in this and great in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

[@waynezimmerman1950]

@@mikeg2306 He also played Mr. Jordan in the 1941 romantic comedy. It was later remade in 1978 as Heaven Can Wait, with Warren Beatty; opposite James Mason as Mr. Jordan.

[@JeffKelly03]

The dialogue in this is positively spectacular. Not just the famous lines, but stuff like, "I'm only a poor corrupt official" and "We'll be there at 6." "I'll be there at 10." And "Waters? We're in the desert." "I was misinformed." Honestly, the whole thing is just amazing. And of course, it's so dialogue-driven because it was originally written as an unproduced stage play.

[@chrisash]

"Where were you last night?" "That's so long ago I don't remember." This might be my favorite movie.

[@notconcernedwriting]

Are my eyes really brown?

[@najhoant]

Also, the ”I am shocked, SHOCKED” bit is one of the funniest scenes from this era of movies

[@hw2508]

"He would water his garden with Champaign..."

[@JeffKelly03]

@@najhoant Love it. It took far to long for someone to add that gif to Twitter, and of course ever since then, it's been one of my most frequently used gifs.

[@minnesotajones261]

Arguably, the greatest movie of all time. Every line is quotable. And Claude Raines literally steals the film from Bogie! People also forget, this was filmed WHILE THE WAR was on. So no one knew what the outcome of WWII was going to be. Just amazing.

[@theLeftHandedDog]

Yeah, I'd argue. The film blows.

[@jordanjohnanderson]

@@theLeftHandedDog You probably prefer movies based on comic books.

[@joefriedman9843]

@@jordanjohnanderson I mean I love comic book movies too but if you think this movie is anything less than excellent you're a complete moron.

[@MusicBlik]

@@jordanjohnanderson Uninformed Observer is entitled to his opinion. There's no accounting for taste.

[@malcolmrowe9003]

@@jordanjohnanderson or possibly, given his username, he's being ironic or just trolling.

[@bradpirochta9293]

It helps to understand the WW2 timeline. WW2 started in '39, America entered the war late '41, Casablanca came out in '42, and the war ended in '45. So Casablanca came out before anyone knew what the outcome of the war would be. A love story in the midst of chaos.

[@AnthonyGentile-z2g]

@bradpirochta9293 Time line: The movie takes place in the first week of December 1941. Paris fell to the Germans on 14 June 1940. Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan on 7 December 1941, Germany declared war on the US on 11 December 1941. American troops landed at Casablanca in neutral Vichy France on 11 November 1942.

[@XtheMystic244]

Conrad Veidt who played Major Strasser fled Nazi Germany and hated Hitler. He only agreed to play the role as long as it had no redeeming qualities. Every other character had comic moments except his.

[@Divamarja_CA]

And sadly, he died the year Casablanca was released.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Good to know.

[@migmit]

That wasn't the only time, he played other Nazis as well, always insisting they should be either unredeemable villains or complete and utter idiots.

[@Music_Lover26]

Conrad Veidt also contributed financially to the British war effort. He was an iconic part of the early German cinema in films like He Who Laughs and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), a surreal horror film. Every actor in Casablanca is perfectly cast. Many were refugees from war-torn Europe. Glad you reacted to this wonderful classic!

[@FizzFop1]

Veidt's is known for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari...but his acting masterpiece is The Man Who Laughs. There's a couple of heavy hitting scenes that he just nails.

[@FightingTorque411]

"I'm shocked - SHOCKED - to find a reaction to Casablanca posted here!" YT: "Your subscription notifications, sir." "Oh, thank you very much!"

[@PuppyMonsters]

Brilliant

[@thomastimlin1724]

😂

[@joefriedman9843]

hahah so good. Maybe my favorite line from the movie. Claude Rains is too good in this movie. My dad always said he was his favorite movie character ever and I can understand why.

[@user-blob]

Well done 👏

[@Steve-gx9ot]

Character Actors!!❤

[@robertmarginean164]

It's very rare for a movie with THIS type of reputation to live up to it, and Casablanca does it in spades. One of the greatest movies of all time, no doubt about it.

[@StimParavane]

The La Marseillaise scene ranks along with the Ride of the Rohirrim as my two favourite emotional moments in films.

[@victorsixtythree]

The singing of La Marseillaise in the cafe gives me goosebumps - every time! And the scene illustrates one of the themes of the film - Democracy vs fascism. The people in the bar, many of them displaced refugees from across Europe (many of the actors in the film were real life refugees including Madeleine Lebeau who played Yvonne who we see tearfully singing the song), led by Victor Laszlo literally rise to their feet and unite to combat Nazi fascism. It reflects something Laszlo said earlier in the film: "What if you murdered all of us? From every corner of Europe hundreds, thousands, would rise to take our places. Even Nazis can't kill that fast." Also, the words of 'La Marseillaise" itself are particularly poignant (the English translation): "Grab your weapons, citizens! Form your battalions! Let us march! Let us march!" (And strains of La Marseillaise play over the closing titles, as Rick and Captain Renault walk off, determined to re-join the fight.) And the scene is a sort of microcosm showing the dynamics between the three main characters Rick, Victor and Ilsa. At first Rick is willing to sit back and allow the Nazis to sing, reflecting his stance to remain neutral and "not stick his neck out" for anyone. But Victor is a man of action and cannot sit by and do nothing. Yet Rick gives the band leader a nod letting him know he approves of them playing the song. Laszlo unites the people and together they stand up (literally) to the Germans. Meanwhile, we see Ilsa, who is torn between her feeling for the two men, watching the whole thing and we see in her eyes the love and admiration she has for Victor.

[@powerpointpaladin6911]

I cannot keep a dry eye during that scene.

[@Thoralmir]

Socialism, not fascism. Only over-educated know-nothings believe that the Nazis were fascist.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Thank you for the fascinating,uplifting information-it makes this movie even more historically relevant.

[@AndyBestHP]

I love the film and the scene too. But let's be real, they are not in French Africa because African countries democratically voted for French rule. Same goes for my country, at the time The British Empire. Casablanca is great, don't get me wrong, but maybe we should all follow up with a viewing of The Battle of Algiers.

[@garybrockie6327]

You should watch Hitchcock’s 1946 film Notorious. It’s spy love triangle starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains.

[@jasonlane1528]

Captain Renault : "I'm shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here." Croupier : "Your winnings, sir." Captain Renault: "Thenk yew!" I use the "I'm shocked!" line all the time.

[@Wanda711]

The croupier was played by the French actor Marcel Dalio, whose own flight from France as the Germans invaded was even more convoluted than that of the refugees in Casablanca. The Nazis picked his face to illustrate their "How To Spot A Jew" propaganda posters. They even deleted his scenes from existing films and replaced him with a different actor. A good thing he got away just in time, because he wouldn't have had much of a chance in France.

[@Guildofarcanelore]

Remember, when you first meet Rick, he's playing chess... always two moves ahead.

[@mikemilne]

To me the best part follows that line, the look Rick gives the croupier.

[@StimParavane]

Me too!

[@zanzibarwhite-]

The Maltese Falcon is another Bogart classic.

[@Viglin123]

My favorite is The Big Sleep

[@ralphstrickland7110]

Treasure of the Sierra Madres, The African Queen, The Caine Mutiny. Lots to keep our friends here busy reacting.

[@caldwellkelley3084]

Treasure of the Sierra Madre!

[@thomasknash]

And Peter Lorre & Sidney Greenstreet from this film also appear in that with Bogart.

[@PuppyMonsters]

If they do, The Maltese Falcon, they can say, "Oh, there's that guy from Casablanca" when Peter Lorre appears.

[@johnmavroudis2054]

Peter Lorre is in another absolutely BRILLIANT film from Frtiz Lang... It will be the oldest film you've seen...and it's in German... but don't let that stop you... it's INCREDIBLE. The film is called "M"... and the backstory is astounding. Fritz Lang used actual criminals in the film... based on a true story. You'll never forget it.

[@kathyastrom1315]

M is amazing. I don’t speak German, but Peter Lorre’s delivery of “Ich musse!!” is just burned in my brain forever.

[@xBelastianx]

Would love to see "M" on the channel. I think it might even be Public-Domain so you would be able to use a lot of footage from it. it's a truly great movie!

[@ralphstrickland7110]

M is amazing, but The General starting the great Buster Keaton is five years older and worth a watch.

[@magusreaver]

I just did a big drawing of Peter Lorre.. he doesn't get the praise he should.

[@Johnny_Socko]

Peter Lorre is one of my favorite actors, and has been since I was a kid. Nobody could play sad desperation like him.

[@1newbert]

Bogart played villains, heroes and anti heroes. One of the great actors of the 40’s and 50’s

[@iKvetch558]

The first Bogart movie I ever saw was We're No Angels...it was my first Ustinov movie as well. LOL I will always love that movie.

[@motorcycleboy9000]

If you guys are movie critics, then show us yer badges!

[@1newbert]

@@motorcycleboy9000 we don’t need no stinking badges.

[@EdwardGregoryNYC]

And as in this film, they could all be the same character.

[@heavycritic9554]

He's brilliant in The Caine Mutiny. Fun fact: When I watched Caine X number of years back, it was the first time I saw how short Bogart really was.

[@richard7crowley]

Legend has it that the script was still being revised during production. Nobody (including Ingrid/Ilsa) knew who she would leave with until the last scene leaving the airport. And since it was produced and released during the war, nobody knew who would win WW2, either. Indeed, the movie was made for an audience who were in the middle of the war and understood all the subtle details and "inside jokes:" The production crew did an amazing job considering the wartime restrictions on materials: wood and paint for sets, fabric for costumes, even food both on camera and behind the scenes to feed the cast and crew.. And completely filmed in Burbank, California including the "street scenes" in "Casablanca", and at the Hollywood-Burbank airport.

[@deedubya286]

I watched this movie for the first time back in 1982 in an effort to understand my sister's infatuation with Humphrey Bogart. It has been my favourite movie ever since. It was the first VHS movie I ever bought and I have gone through DVD, Blu-ray, and am now on my current 4K copy. I've long since lost count of how many times I've seen it but I can practically quote every line of dialog along with the characters. It has been my constant companion and solace through 40+ years of heartbreaks, lonely nights, and Valentine's Days. I've seen in twice in theatres, once in Saskatoon and once in Vancouver. In both cases the entire audience burst into applause when Captain Renault said "Round up the usual suspects" at the airport.

[@SickBoyMAB]

A common reading of the film is that Rick mirrors America's initial reaction to the war- neutrality. But in the end he does what he should, even if it's not what he wants (or what the audience wants for him and Elsa)

[@waynesimpson4081]

Yes, the line "I bet they're asleep all over America" has a double meaning.

[@powerpointpaladin6911]

yep, "they are waking up all over America" (the film was finished shortly after Pearl Harbor).

[@Johnny_Socko]

"You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all the other possibilities." - Winston Churchill

[@michaelfinlay6341]

Another thing to consider is that Rick CAN'T go back to America, or any other country in Europe, because he's an outlaw in ALL OF THEM. Rick is basically the badass of badasses. That's why he tells Ilsa that where he's going she can't follow. Wherever Rick goes he is a dead man walking. And so he goes off to fight.

[@treetopjones737]

In the 30's there were Nazi rallies all across the country.

[@lanagorgeous9485]

In the scene, the very emotional scene in playing of the French National anthem, "La Marseillaise", many of those actors who teared up including the young woman Yvonne played by Madeleine Lebeau, were actually French and escaped occupied France before making it to Hollywood, so those emotions were real and not acting!

[@RoninUK-e3u]

and Peter Lorre had escaped Germany just in time thanks to a tip off from Hitler's propaganda chief who was a fan and did not want to see him rounded up.

[@caldwellkelley3084]

Thanks! I had forgot her name! She died in her beloved Paris in the 70's!

[@thomastimlin1724]

@@caldwellkelley3084 Wrong. She died on May 1, 2016 (age 92 years), in Estepona, Spain. She was the last surviving cast member of Casablanca.

[@caldwellkelley3084]

Thanks Thomas ... I stand corrected!@@thomastimlin1724

[@bradfordogden7003]

One thing that is especially remarkable and noteworthy to me is that Madeleine Lebeau was all of 19 when she appeared in CASABLANCA. I find her poise and maturity amazing.

[@jangle4246]

About the movie’s timeline: The budding relationship between Rick and Ilsa is interrupted by the German occupation of Paris in June 1940. They meet again when Ilsa and Victor come to Rick’s café in December 1941 (Early in the movie Rick puts his “OK” on a Café Americain check for 1000 francs, and it is dated 2 Déciembre 41). So, it has been only a year and a half that Rick and Ilsa have been apart. - - The attack on Pearl Harbor that prompted the U.S. commitment to WWII was on Dec. 7, 1941. The action in the movie takes place at the turning point for the U.S., and Rick’s change from uninvolved to patriot parallels that shift.

[@vapoet]

Which should have been especially important to the Americans watching the movie. If you consider that Rick was neutral up to that point, then joined the war a few days later, his decision fits in nearly to the day of Pearl Harbor when Americans joined the fight.

[@mryan22]

If you count the days that pass in the movie, then the plane takes off early on 7 December.

[@vapoet]

@@mryan22 That's what I had figured.

[@gentryxc]

The December 2, 1941 date is important. That is 5 days before Pearl Harbor. The U.S. was officially neutral and the America First movement had a lot of populist support. The US government, however, was very favorably inclined toward the allies and helping them considerably while also gearing up for war. Rick's character is the same. He is officially neutral, purports to stick his neck out for nobody, but quietly helps many. Much as Pearl Harbor brought America into the war, Lazlo and Ilsa's arrival brings Rick back into the fight against the Axis.

[@bellaususfitzpinguidpalate8732]

Casablanca has always been the movie I judge reactors by; whether they try to understand the era, talk over important info. So happy Cinebinge got it❤❤😊

[@timhibbard4226]

You got two out of three correct , George. That’s not bad. “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”, is from Gone with the Wind.

[@thegunslinger1363]

Another classic you should check out is Rear Window.

[@Asehpe]

Hey! Simone and George should watch Gone With the Wind. After seeing Bogart, they have to see Gable!

[@taejaskudva2543]

Ooh, excellent comment, considering they just did Mars Attacks!

[@treetopjones737]

I'll pretend I don't want him to ravage me. - Scarlett

[@chrisf5828]

But in the same fog

[@gregghelmberger]

Bogie's line, "I heard a story once - as a matter of fact, I've heard a lot of stories in my time. They went along with the sound of a tinny piano playing in the parlor downstairs. 'Mister, I met a man once when I was a kid,' it always began" is a lot more cutting than it seems to us now. Back then, the stereotypical brothel was a two-story building with the rooms upstairs and a parlor/bar downstairs where the men could relax, meet the girls, get some drinks, and listen to music (jazz music was invented in places like that in New Orleans), and the girls would always give a sob story in an effort to get more money. Rick was calling Ilsa a whore.

[@hw2508]

In that time many people would tell anything to get money for their travel or to get papers. Tell anything to excuse what they did or did not do. It was a matter of life and death.

[@lynnkain]

People are still that way.

[@thomastimlin1724]

@@lynnkain Yes, they're called Congressman

[@alfredroberthogan5426]

I thought most viewers would realize that!

[@gregghelmberger]

@@alfredroberthogan5426 IME, no, they have no idea. It's not really a stereotype anymore for anyone who isn't a fan of movies from the 1950s or earlier. Unless brothels are still that way, in which case employees and clients would still know. But somehow I really doubt that.

[@chrisholland6052]

Casablanca is one of the greatest movies ever made. It literally has something for everyone, romance, intrigue, action.

[@arandomnamegoeshere]

I always look at the scene with the national anthem sing-off as the essence of this film. Many of the actors had fled Europe to escape the Nazis. Even many of the bit parts were performed by actors with serious resumes in Europe before fleeing. So when there are tears shed in this scene - they have real emotional gravitas. These were a people who fled horrors and nobody knew where the world was going. Yvonne sings in this scene with defiance and tears. The french actor and her husband (who plays the roulette dealer) had both fled Europe following a path very similar to the path described in the start of the film (in fact - the final demarcation point out of Europe to the Americas was the original setting for Rick's). They managed to travel through Mexico, get Canadian visas, and enter the United States to land jobs at Warner Bros to eventually be a part of cinema history.

[@HenryCabotHenhouse3]

This film takes place during the first week of December, 1941, just before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor ("I bet in America they're still asleep."). Rick and Sam left Paris on June 13, 1940. This film is a master class in light and shadow. On rewatch you will notice that Maj. Strasse is always somewhat shadowed, Victor is in light, and Rick is half and half (either side lit or with shadows crossing him). As the film comes toward the end Rick becomes more and more in the light. It is worth a rewatch just to pay attention to the lighting cues.

[@victorsixtythree]

I think Simone might have missed this - when Ilsa asked Victor why he didn't leave her behind when she was sick and Victor tired to say that "things" kept coming up or something but the truth is that he couldn't leave her behind. He loved her and, thus, she was an important part of his work.

[@vapoet]

Yes, he only said he would go in order to convince her to leave Casablanca and get to safety. He was also willing to let Rick go with her if it meant her safety.

[@DavetheGrue]

Her smile makes it obvious that she knows he's lying. Weird to see someone miss that.

[@ChrisAdamscomedy]

It’s amazing that this film released a few weeks after The Allies invaded French North Africa during WW2. The war was still going on while the battle of the German vs French anthem scene happened. It must have been cathartic for people at the time.

[@glennwisniewski9536]

The source of the expression "the usual suspects." The latter was even the title of a 1995 movie with Kevin Spacey.

[@dalegarraway9865]

"Play it again Sam". The most famous line from the movie that's not actually in the movie.

[@victorsixtythree]

It helps to know that the screenplay for Casablanca is based on an unproduced play that was written a few years earlier before the United States had entered World War II. So, the whole idea of the American Rick Blaine being neutral in all political matters was a commentary/metaphor for the U.S.'s position while War raged in Europe. By the time the movie was made, the U.S. had entered the War - actually I believe the play landed on the desk of one of the executives at Warner Brothers Studios only a few days or weeks after the bombing at Pearl Harbor and Warner Brothers quickly went ahead with making it into a movie.

[@phillipridgway8317]

Interestingly, this was meant to just be another low-budget pot-boiler of a movie, with low studio expectations, but somehow the talented people working on it made an unintentional classic!

[@vapoet]

@@phillipridgway8317 Lets face it, had Rick not put Elsa on the plane, no one would have remembered the movie. And that was added late in production. Brilliant choice.

[@chrissouthgate4554]

Thunder Rock is a similar sort of theme, Featuring a lighthouse keeper on the Great Lakes & those from a shipwreck.

[@bp-ob8ic]

also, it's Nation-wide release was moved up to follow the Casablanca Conference in January of 1943 (though it was in limited release in December of 1942) and the publicity that entailed.

[@tomj819]

Ilsa was young and mistook hero worship for love when she met Lazlo because she didn't know any better. She admires and respects the man he is, but she never knew real love until she met Rick in Paris. Her sense of loyalty and propriety causes her to sacrifice that to do the right thing when she discovers her husband is still alive: even though she knows two hearts are broken in the process for her the cause and her place in it are more important. The film is a masterpiece about sacrifice and being willing go give up what you have for a better world, which makes perfect sense given when it was filmed. And whilst it is and will always be regarded a classic, that's a message we could all apply more in current times... So glad you enjoyed my favorite movie! For me personally, the song Angel by Sarah McLachlan is my version of Rick and Ilsa's "As Time Goes By"...

[@PhilMasters]

Well, supposedly, when Ingrid Bergman asked the writers which of the men Ilsa loved, they said they didn’t know. So she went through the whole film not quite knowing what her character thought…

[@NathanJasper]

"Scissor me timbers" is now my favorite Simone-ism 😂

[@procopiusaugustus6231]

South Park quote.

[@Progger11]

​@procopiusaugustus62Yup31 Yup. From one of the most transphobic episodes. Unfortunately.

[@phillipsuttles1926]

the actual quote is "shiver me timbers" from Treasure Island, meaning to tremble with fear or excitement.

[@Pandaemoni]

@@phillipsuttles1926 But it was changed in South Park to refer to "scissoring," the sexual act.

[@johnross6805]

Such an amazing movie, everyone is great but Claude Rains looks like he is having the time of his life.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

He really gets the best lines and a lot of them.

[@treetopjones737]

Louis is in love.

[@StimParavane]

HIs role is the most important one for the whole success of the film.

[@jrudge]

20:24 This moment of dueling anthems hits my heart more than almost anything else in all of cinema

[@FightingTorque411]

1) George is right on the hero/villain deals - I don't know about other contracts but Conrad Veidt only agreed to play Major Strasser on the condition that he was *completely* irredeemable and unsympathetic. 2) It's worth bearing in mind that this was made *during* the Second World War. There was no guarantee that the Nazis were going to lose, and the passion on the faces and the cry of "Vive la France" in the singing scene were real - many of the actors had escaped occupied Europe only a few years before filming. 3) As was the style at the time, the script was written and rewritten *during* filming. When Ilsa says "You'll have to think for both of us", she wasn't joking - they hadn't decided how the film was going to end at that point! 4) The American Film Institute made a list of their 100 Greatest Movie Quotes in 2005. Even getting one quote in the list meant it was a highly acclaimed movie for the ages, two was an era-defining film, and three basically meant it was part of the foundation of cinema itself. No film had more than three entries on the list. Except Casablanca. Which had SIX.

[@migmit]

There was no guarantee US won't reach some kind of a deal with Hitler either. All those actors could be deported back into Nazis hands, and being in such a movie would not be looked upon with kindness.

[@tbryan5313]

One thing everybody misses........when Rick ok's the check in the beginning of the movie.......the date on the check is dec 1st, 1941....6 days before Pearl Harbor... on the other side of the world.

[@pauldourlet]

The movie with the fastest dialog (and some of the wittiest )is His Girl Friday with Cary Grant ,directed by Howard Hawks.

[@scottyyz]

That and Arsenic and Old Lace are two of my all-time fave "classic" comedies. And of course both star Cary Grant.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

_The Americanization of Emily_

[@lukebarton5075]

Both absolute classics. Don't forget “Bringing Up Baby” for another Cary Grant comedy.

[@DonP_is_lostagain]

One of the unique things about His Girl Friday is that it was one of the first films in which one character would talk over the lines of another character to give a better sense of realism to the action.

[@pauldourlet]

@@DonP_is_lostagain yes ,I think it inspired Altman to make MASH with overlapping dialog

[@pepsiman990]

Ok, I have two suggestions for you. For Humphrey Bogart my suggestion is The Maltese Falcon (1941) This is a film-noir detective story and it pretty much set the standard for detective movies for several year. LOTS of movies borrowed from The Maltese Falcon. For Claude Rains (Captain Renault) I suggest Lawrence of Arabia (1962) A Bio-pic of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who united the warring, Arab tribes against the Turks in WWI. It is a spectacular movie, and the desert backdrop feels like a character in the movie.

[@melanie62954]

Lawrence of Arabia is one of my favorite films, but my favorite Claude Rains performance would have to be Notorious.

[@garricksmalley1733]

I concur

[@jamesalexander5623]

@@melanie62954 Absolutely! But He was great in so many films!

[@Divamarja_CA]

For Claude Rains, there’s Mr. Skeffington, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Invisible Man, Now, Voyager, and many more!

[@francoisevassy6614]

Claude Rains : Now Voyager, The Invisible Man, Notorious, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, sure ! But also The Unsuspected.

[@kylelee3576]

“Play it! If she can stand to hear it, I can.” Breaks my heart every time.

[@CEngelbrecht]

12:10 Battle of France was May 1940, fall of Paris is into June. So a year and a half Rick has been in Casablanca, if the rest of the film is December 1941.

[@countgeekula9143]

Simply one of the greatest films ever made.

[@MrDavidcairns]

This was great! The politics of the time ARE quite complicated, and it's interesting the film still seems to work. France was half-occupied, but the "unoccupied" part was a vassal state in service to Germany, run out of the town of Vichy. So when the Renault throws a bottle of Vichy water in the bin at the end, it's a symbol that he's rejecting the regime he'd been following. A detail everyone in 1941 apparently understood, but which is pretty opaque to most of us today.

[@ShoNuff3K]

I've watched several reactions to one of my favorite movies. No one figured out Elsa thought Victor was dead soo quick.

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

They also understood the political aspects of the time a lot better than other reactors I’ve seen. They renewed my faith in humanity a bit🤣

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

They also understood the political aspects of the time a lot better than other reactors I’ve seen. They renewed my faith in humanity a bit🤣

[@perrinyone1596]

Ditto. I thought the same exact thing. Definitely figured it out before I did when I first saw it. Of course, I was about 8 years old, lol.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

It’s because Simone and George pay attention, and this film demands attention. I noticed that they didn’t laugh as much as I thought they would at the many witty lines of dialogue. I think it was because they were hanging on every word, worried that they might miss a contextual clue. I don’t think the funny dialogue went over their heads, I think they were too engrossed to laugh out loud. They’ll have time to laugh on the second viewing. They have my total respect as serious and true cinephiles and not run-of-the-mill reactors.

[@tremorsfan]

In the 1980s as a social experiment, a writer submitted 200 copies of the script to various Hollywood agencies using the film's original name. Of the 79 that read the script, 33 recognized it with some even writing back joking replies, while 39 sent the script back with notes saying that the story was too weak.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

That’s simultaneously funny and sad.

[@JeshuaSquirrel]

People have done similar experiments with bestselling novels and submitting them for publication under different author names. Many rejected the novels.

[@vapoet]

But it was remade as a science fiction movie, Barb Wire, with Pamela Anderson as the Rick character. It bombed.

[@JeshuaSquirrel]

@@vapoet yeah, the direction and script for Barb Wire wasn't that great.

[@DonP_is_lostagain]

@@JeshuaSquirrel neither was the lead "actress". Though she did look good.

[@reverendB]

Peter Lorre (Ugarte) had a very distinct voice. He was one of the (countless) impersonations Robin Williams did as the Genie in Aladdin. "I can't bring people back from the dead. It's not a pretty picture. I don't like DOING IT!"

[@petercofrancesco9812]

It's funny they joke that Captain Renault had a crush on Rick and at end they walk off like they're lovers.

[@timhibbard4226]

There is a reason that this movie is considered to have one of the best screenplays of all time…

[@Jeff_Lichtman]

Many of the actors had fled Europe because of the war. Madeleine Lebeau, who played Yvonne, is a case in point. She and her husband (who played the croupier) fled France ahead of the Germans with the intent of going to Chile, but when they got to Mexico it was discovered that their visas were forged. They were stuck in Mexico for a while, until they were able to obtain temporary Canadian passports and used those to go to the U.S. The similarity of her situation to Yvonne's wasn't lost on her. Her tears during the singing of La Marseillaise were real. Casablanca was based on the play Everybody Comes to Rick's. It was written before the U.S. entered the war, which happened at the end of 1941. The movie was filmed in 1942, but the story was set before then. Many Americans were opposed to their country being in the war, seeing it as a European problem they wanted to stay out of. When Rick said, "I'll bet they're asleep all over America," it was an ironic commentary on American isolationism (by the writers, not by Rick himself, who meant it literally). Victor was telling a white lie to Ilsa when he told her he would leave without her if the shoe were on the other foot. He loved her and wanted her to be safe. She saw through the lie and called him on it. Some stars may have had clauses in their contracts that they would only play heroes, but Humphrey Bogart did not. He played some pretty awful characters late into his career. More movies starring Bogart. All of them would be good to react to: The Maltese Falcon (1941) The Big Sleep (1946) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) The African Queen (1951) The Caine Mutiny (1954) So this is the oldest movie you've reacted to? Here are some more old movies you might like: M (1931) Duck Soup (1933) It Happened One Night (1934) The Thin Man (1934) Bringing Up Baby (1938) The Wizard of Oz (1939) Citizen Kane (1941) Miracle on 34th Street (1947) The Third Man (1949) Singin' in the Rain (1952) Roman Holiday (1953) Thanks!

[@ianrosenbalm6555]

Ooh. Here's hoping they do at least "Citizen Kane" and "Roman Holiday."

[@DonP_is_lostagain]

Jayzus Jeff! you're every where!😄

[@GothDuck]

I’m not old old and this is still one of my top five of all time.

[@Rickhorse1]

Yes George, your comment at the start about "audiences knowing at that time" was on point. As an old guy, when a young person sits down to watch Casablanca ...without spoiling anything, I always advise that they remember that this film came out during the early days of WW2. That is the mindset of audiences watching it in that time. The emotional impact of so much of it is based on that fact.

[@dant7677]

In college I used to organize a weekly movie night, and when our venue was about to close, I went out of my way to get my hands on a copy of Casablanca. (This was before streaming.) We had about twice the usual crowd, and it was super-unruly... until the film began. Everyone laughed and was moved at exactly the right times. At the closing line, they cheered. Aaand then suddenly the room went back to being rowdy and unruly. But for those roughly two hours, I'm telling you they were spellbound.

[@Wanda711]

I saw a college screening of Casablanca once too. Same thing, everyone was spellbound, and in the scene where Louis turns around and see Rick's gun pointed at him, someone even audibly gasped! It's great to think that young students were seeing that film for the first time nearly 50 years after it was released, and it still could produce the same effect.

[@bp-ob8ic]

I saw it at the free-Movie-Friday in college as well. Since then, I have seen it at least a hundred times. A few years ago, I got to see it in a theatre as part of a TCM event. The crowd reactions (gasps, laughter, applause and sobs) doubled the experience of the film.

[@TheMrsmartass13]

Another classic is The Treasure of the Seirra Madre, a classic among classics in my opion

[@Divamarja_CA]

A wonderful character study!

[@MarcosElMalo2]

I couldn’t agree more, and if I tried I’d use up my emoticon budget for the rest of the year.

[@robcoz98]

In case you guys never knew, As Time Goes By is the small jingle used in the Warner Bros shield logo

[@reverendB]

I'm a pretty big film (and trivia) buff, and I didn't know that! Thanks for that tidbit!!

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Good to know.

[@electronics-girl]

I believe they added that to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Casablanca (which would have been 1992), and then they've kept it ever since.

[@pugowner1347]

Lol. I watched this last week. I've had a copy of this movie since we've been able to personally have movies. So well written with verbal fencing, quick barbs and snappy come backs. So many quotable lines. Major Strasser: "What is your nationality?" Rick: I'm a drunkard." One of my favorites!! This one has it all. Loyalty, romance, compassion, humor, intrigue, deception, sacrifice and a beautiful twist at the end. The Germans invade Poland in Sept. 1939, starting WWII. In May of 1940 they started on France and by going around the Maginot Line, were in Paris within a month. (sorry, history geek) Captain Renault is played by Claude Reins An 'A' list actor of the time.

[@1938superman]

Casablanca is one of those movies that just delivers every time. There are some supposed classics that are over-hyped or don't hold up over time. Casablanca lives up to the hype.

[@khalidcabrero6204]

I never realized someone was talking Cantonese. There's lots of little phrases popping up here and there that many Americans miss but leaves foreigners in stitches, e.g. Sasha's Russian mumbling, and the old German couple with their great "What watch" "Such much" exchange.

[@patrickdepew4976]

"Best screenplay ever written," according to Brian Cox's character in Adaptation. I love that Simone was completely caught up in the line story. I can't remember if this was the first Bogart movie I ever saw, but it's one of the ones that made me understand his greatness. You should definitely check out more Bogart, especially The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Big Sleep and The African Queen.

[@bluesreign]

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!"

[@xbubblehead]

@@bluesreign Funny how that and "Play it again, Sam" are not the actual quotes and both are in Bogie movies.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

Treasure of the Sierra Madre 👍 👍 👍 I think that movie began my fascination with Mexico and led to me moving here thirteen years ago. Cormac McCarthy’s border trilogy, particularly Cities of the Plain, probably sealed the deal.

[@bluesreign]

yeah. it's actually a little longer, but that's how it's remembered thanks to Mel Brooks.@@xbubblehead

[@chrisgilbert9076]

I’m all for African Queen as another Bogart movie reaction. Paired with the incomparable Katherine Hepburn, it’s a much simpler though no less powerful story of adventure and love in wartime. Plus Bogart’s Charlie Allnut character is Canadian!

[@stevesullivan8705]

Once Rick shot Strasser there was nothing stopping Rick and Louis from getting on the plane. But the ending they used was much more noble. And NOBODY did "noble" like Bogey.

[@lawrencejones1517]

Such an amazing film! And a little history, The Germans marched into Paris on June 14, 1940, and the movie takes place in December 1941, so a little over a year has elapsed since Rick and Ilsa had last seen each other. FYI....

[@thinkbolt]

This is one of those few great movies that DESERVES to be called great. I'm glad you saw it, and I'm glad you paid such close attention.

[@martymcflown3707]

So many great performers who also appear in my favorite Bogart film, The Maltese Falcon.

[@jamesalexander5623]

The Joel Cairo character Peter Lorrie plays is a real Hoot! .....

[@1newbert]

Louie (Claude Rains) was the original Invisible Man.

[@eddisstreet]

I've never seen him

[@bluebird3281]

@@eddisstreetYou bastard you beat me by four minutes LOL

[@1newbert]

@@eddisstreet but I saw what you did there. 😂

[@perrinyone1596]

Claude Rains is the greatest, love that guy. Great in every movie, every part, sometimes he's the lead, sometimes he's the villain, sometimes he's a small part. He's fantastic in Hitchcock's "Notorious".

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Quite true.

[@waterbeauty85]

19:33 The charming actor who plays Captain Louis Renault is Claude Rains. I'd like to suggest watching his very different role as the villain vs. Errol Flynn in 1940's "The Sea Hawk." It's a spectacular production with great sets, costumes, action, and romance, and a climatic sword fight that has gotten high praise from modern fencing experts on KZbin. Rains is great as a deliciously treacherous and conniving politician and a deadly physical combatant (the movie's choreographer said that Rains was one of the best fencers of any of the actors he had worked with).

[@1newbert]

Major Strasser, was in the Man Who Laughed, and was the inspiration for the look of the Joker. He was also the sleepwalking killer in the Cabinet of Caligari, an early German Expressionist film classic.

[@zvimur]

I believe his Jaffar is one of the "Thief of Baghdad" inspirations on Disney's Aladdin (the fat white clad Sultan is another).

[@perrinyone1596]

LOVE "The Man Who Laughs", that's a real great one. The first twenty minutes of that movie are harrowing. And that's before Conrad Veidt (the guy you're talking about) even appears onscreen! Love that you brought that movie up, that's a total fave. (Caligari, of course, that one too, but everyone knows that one. A person brings up "Man Who Laughs", I think "I wanna party with that guy!" 😄

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Thank you for pointing this out.

[@jerryward3311]

He also agreed to play a nazi only if he got killed.

[@paulcooper3611]

Conrad Veidt, the actor who plays Major Strasser, was a German refuge from the Nazis. His wife was Jewish. On of his conditions for doing the file was that Major Strasser have absolutely n redeeming qualities.

[@CineRam]

Nobody has ever been cooler--or will be cooler--than Bogart in this movie.

[@vapoet]

I think that Claude Raines gave him a run for his money in the "cool" department. That guy was 100% unflappable.

[@glennwisniewski9536]

I agree. For runner-up, I vote for Steve McQueen.

[@thomastimlin1724]

They tried a TV series, in 1983, Casablanca, starring actor David Soul as Rick. Scatman Crothers as Sam [ a1bnot a bad choice]. It totally flopped after a few episodes, lol. Set sometime prior to the events of the film Casablanca (1942), though it breaks continuity with the film in that Rick Blaine has already met Strasser and Heinz in the TV series. Ilsa Lund is mentioned in passing in one episode.

[@CarlosCardoso2amissao]

I watched Casablanca in the theater (no, I'm not that old) during a classic movie festival. They've found an old, old copy. At the scene with Ilsa's note they localized the note, filming one written in portuguese (I live in Brazil), even with the rain drops hitting it. A nice detail.

[@orlandoruizjr3834]

The actor who played Louie was the great Claude Rains. He is one of the greatest character actors of all time. He played a villain in 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood. He was in Hitchcock's Notorious. 1941's The Wolfman. He also starred in the title role in 1933's The Invisible Man. I highly recommend you watch it. He is amazing in that film. The effects are very impressive and revolutionary for the 1930s. Humphrey Bogart is also great in The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep. Those are worth your time as well.

[@CEngelbrecht]

4:55 G: *"Why don't we burst into song more often?"* S: *"Some of us do."* G: *"In public."* S: *"Oh."* Me: *Some of us do.* *And then they call the wagon on you.* 🙄

[@krichardj]

Another famous saying that no one seems to recognize. When Peter Lore is first approached to go with the police he says, “let me cash in my chips.” Which quickly became another way of saying someone has died.

[@tylerfoster6267]

Although it makes sense to assume that things took longer decades and decades ago, film production was not one of them. Casablanca started filming on May 25th, 1942, and finished on August 3rd, and the finished film premiered in Hollywood on November 26th. Another great film made the same year that was also about the war as it was going on is Ernest Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be (1942), which is even more pointed in some ways. That would be another great movie that I'd love to see you react to even if the 1983 Mel Brooks remake is more famous and yet still probably one of his least-famous movies. Lubitsch also directed The Shop Around the Corner (1940), the film that was remade into You've Got Mail. To Be or Not to Be is more my personal recommendation, but I'd also love to see Shop because I know how much Simone loves YGM. Madeleine LeBeau, the woman who plays Yvonne, actually fled France with her husband when the Germans invaded. When she cries singing "La Marseillaise," her tears were authentic. Casablanca is famous not only as one of the greatest movies of all time, but also one that was rewritten during production, and one where some of the stars thought it wasn't going to be any good, only for it to become a classic. You never can tell sometimes. Music in silent films is interesting, because the music is not necessarily attached to the film. You can see a silent film several times and you may never get the same exact soundtrack, with different versions having different scores by different silent film composers. One great example is that you can watch a version of Buster Keaton's The General (1926) on KZbin with a score by Joe Hisaishi, the famous composer of several Studio Ghibli movies. So, while the music may be copyrighted, it will definitely be different than the kind of music copyright issues you deal with now. I cannot say whether or not it will be harder or easier. As far as older movies you should watch, in addition to the aforementioned To Be or Not to Be, I highly recommend the Buster Keaton short Sherlock, Jr. (1924), the Harold Lloyd film Safety Last! (1923), the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup (1933), and the Charlie Chaplin film Modern Times (1936), just to get in some of the comedy greats. There are also lots of other great Humphrey Bogart performances to enjoy, such as The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Big Sleep (1946), and In a Lonely Place (1950). The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep also fall into a great rich genre known as film noir, which includes such classics as Double Indemnity (1944), Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946), and Laura (1944). Lastly, I would also, of course, recommend some other general all-time classics, such as King Kong (1933), Citizen Kane (1941), and Godzilla (1954).

[@TedLittle-yp7uj]

Whatever the faults of the Studio System, the one thing that is indisputable is that it was efficient. Scripts could be written almost overnight (and frequently edited while filming was already started), props could be produced at a moment's notice, and there was an incredible collection of great actors available living a short distance from the studio. It was not necessary to travel to three different continents and five countries in order to make one movie. Today, one often gets the impression that more effort was put into making hotel reservations than in actually shooting the movie.

[@kinokind293]

I highly endorse all of your suggestions, although I'd watch the original ""Gojira", not the Raymond Burr version. The re-cut Burr version, although fine as a campy 50s horror movie, is not the serious anti-war statement that the original was. I was amazed when I saw the original what a great film it was before it was butchered for the American audience. It's one of the greatest genre films. Also, I was surprised when I saw the remake of "To Be Or Not to Be", what a non-Brooks film it is. Although not commonly known, Brooks produced a number of more serious films, often for his wife, Anne Bancroft. See the excellent "84 Charing Cross Road", for one.

[@tylerfoster6267]

@@kinokind293 Oh, I just don't distinguish the US and Japanese cuts of Godzilla by title (even though I understand it). I agree that any reactor doing Godzilla should do it in the original language and with the original cut. I liked the Brooks version of To Be or Not to Be okay, but it definitely loses some of its punch largely being the same movie and being produced way later -- it feels like less of a statement. However, I thought Brooks' incorporation of a gay character was done brilliantly, and I loved the one pointed shot of Nazis wearing literal clown shoes. Nice dig. As I imagine is true of most film people, the first things I think of when considering Brooks as a producer are David Cronenberg's The Fly and David Lynch's The Elephant Man.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Those are some truly magnificent recommendations.

[@electronics-girl]

The 1963 Broadway musical She Loves Me is excellent and is based on the same source material as The Shop Around the Corner and You've Got Mail. It has had several Broadway revivals, and is also produced by various community theaters now and then.

[@ajdomer92]

This film will forever be studied for its impactful dialogue and character development. “Are my eyes really brown?”

[@lasbagman1]

Madeline LeBeau was the girl crying while they were playing La Marseilles. The tears were real. Everyone, including her escaped from Europe and were refugees.

[@acecombatter6620]

George: The remaining quote, "I don't give a damn." is from an even older movie called, "Gone with the Wind." Its an epic movie and is the source of many other quotes I'm sure you've heard. I beg yous to watch it.

[@mikem6425]

I second! 🙋🏻‍♂️

[@RicktheCrofter]

The line: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!” was considered scandalous at the time.

[@josht9253]

Gone with the Wind would make for a juicy reaction. The Scarlet vs Mellie and Rhett vs Ashley dichotomy would be fun af!

[@DelGuy03]

I would seriously say that only HAMLET surpasses CASABLANCA for the number of immortal lines it contains. And they're almost not even quotes any more (in both cases) -- they've passed into the language as idioms or sayings. People will say "I am shocked, shocked I tell you, to [learn something obvious]" or "start of a beautiful friendship" because they feel like cool things to say, not because they're quoting a movie. The song "As Times Goes By" was already a decade old by the time it was used here. Herman Hupfield wrote it for a 1931 stage show, but Casablanca is what made it immortal.

[@fallenhero3130]

You mentioned being surprised that the movie is almost all wall-to-wall dialog; that was what the majority of movies were like up until the mid-1950's. Some other great films of this era with phenomenal dialog I recommend are HIS GIRL FRIDAY, THE MALTESE FALCON, THE GHOST & MRS. MUIR, and ALL ABOUT EVE.

[@digapygmy70]

It’s wild how many absolutely iconic lines this film has. What an all-time classic.

[@wjhull]

Fun fact: When they made Casablanca, they had NO IDEA what they had on their hands. The studios were basically run like factories, churning out movies as quickly as possible to maximize profit. I guess you could argue that part of why there are so many great movies form that era is that the creatives got to just do their thing without studio interference, and the people who made all the creative decisions basically worked nonstop (getting their 10,000 hours in)--but while locked into draconian contracts that granted MUCH smaller salaries that you see now. Kinda like how The Beatles got as good as they were by playing live shows constantly for years--only with movies in the 40s all the talent is locked into a contract that made them keep working for peanuts after their projects become successful.

[@treetopjones737]

In the golden age, studios had a "B pictures" dept. for films they knew would not be huge. Now the big studios are run by corporations that don't care about art. Look at their attitude during the latest actors and writers strike.

[@christopherconard2831]

One advantage of the studio system is that they were run like factories. Actors, as employees, were constantly training at studio expense to learn different skills. Ranging from dancing, foreign languages and accents, too horsemanship and mid evil fighting. The longer your list skills, the more you roles you could get. They also took acting lessons constantly. An actor could be a WWI German soldier in February, a schizophrenic patient in June, a shopkeeper in August, and end the year as an English reporter. The downside was that they were locked into contracts that often didn't pay much per movie.

[@salvadorsempere1701]

There are another factor that explains why there are so much great films this era. sheer volume. If you make 1000 films a year, it´s not so hard to get 5-10 masterpieces.

[@slimphotog]

Wow, I learned something new about my favorite movie with the Cantonese info. 3:31 Thank you.

[@drchaos2000]

the marseillaise scene is one the most goosebumps making scenes for me ever.... up there with the charge of the rohirim and "oh captain my captain"

[@stevejoshua9536]

The line, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" is from "Gone With The Wind", delivered by Clark Gable to actress Vivian Leigh.

[@jimuicker4731]

I have been watching this film again and again for my whole life, but it was only last month that I realized that the movie was released during the war, and it has totally changed the way I think about the film. It's a cinematic masterpiece, and Ingred Bergman is certainly one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the silver screen, but I somehow never saw it as propaganda until I realized that the audience was at war when they were watching it. All those themes of self-sacrifice for a noble cause come through so much more powerfully when you think of the personal connection that the audience must have felt when Lazlo says that thousands will rise up, or when Rick says he doesn't care if London or New York are invaded.

[@WG55]

Another classic film noir recommendation: *The Third Man.* It is based on a screenplay by Graham Greene and is set in postwar Vienna.

[@pauldourlet]

Bogart's greatest performance is in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.He is also great in The Maltese Falcon

[@MarcosElMalo2]

Gyad Dayum, I am overjoyed to encounter so many fans of Treasure of the Sierra Madre in these comments.

[@bp-ob8ic]

Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa) did not know the ending until they filmed it. That helped her portray her confused emotions about Rick and Victor. Some sources say this was a happy accident, as the writers couldn't decide until they had to.

[@supernicko123]

This movie is a classic for a reason! Such good dialog, complicated characters, great acting! I love Humphry Bogart. He said once "I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis", which I consider to be good life advice.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

Ingrid Bergman just glows in this movie. She is so heartbreakingly beautiful.

[@ToABrighterFuture]

"What watch?" "Ten watch." is Anglicized German. "Was Uhr?" "Zehn Uhr."

[@marcbloom7462]

There script was being written while the film was being shot. The final scene was delayed while they waited for pages. A second ending was written but this one played so well they went with this. The Nazis were played by people who escaped the Nazis, mostly German Jews.

[@njt2347]

There's a theory that the line, "it's still a story without an ending" was an inside joke that they were still working on the script.

[@alexbrunner1900]

This has great dialogue and some of the greatest actors in history

[@stern12akachris32]

Ingrid Bergman was a lot taller then Bogart so there was some Masterful Camera Work done to make him look taller . Ingrid Bergman didn't want to make it she thought it was going to be a Romantic little movie . Nobody knew when it was being made and the timing of it how important a Movie it was . A lot of the cast were actually escaping the war when it was being made. Welcome to one of the Greatest Love story's of all time. More so welcome to one of the greatest Movies of all time.

[@charlieeckert4321]

Actually Sam (Dooley Wilson) was singing live on set. But he wasn't playing piano. A man named Elliot Carpenter was playing the piano off screen and Wilson was sat in a position where he could imitate his movements. The piano sam "played" didn't make a sound.

[@AztecConsulting]

This is my favorite movie, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! The worldbuilding in the details that makes the city a living breathing part of story is incredible.

[@mjmullady]

I have watched this so many times and it never gets old and I see more things in it every time. Louis is such a great character and Ingrid is so stunning!

[@generichuman2044]

Love this movie. Thanks to 12 angry men I discovered other classics and this is one of my favourites. Incredible acting and a wonderful script. Timeless

[@frenchynoob]

Them singing the French Anthem is even better when you know the lyrics call for the "rising of weapons by the citizens" and "spilling of impure blood to drench the fields"

[@michaelfinlay6341]

Also that the girl singing it was a French ex-pat. That was not acting on her part.

[@mercurymachines4311]

America used to make such beautiful Films.

[@hanskneesun123]

One of the most quotable films, I use "We'll always have Paris" for comedic effect when something has gone horribly wrong.

[@funkndonut]

why do i get the impression simone's demeanor is far more innocent than what lies beneath lmao

[@kenpullig1652]

The power of Casablanca is in good direction and editing, solid dialogue, and mostly quality performances. Bogie and Bergman, interestingly, were not even on the A-list of choices to play the characters. No one really wanted to be in the movie as it was a slipshod production of an average film script that wasn't even written at the time shooting started. It was written as the movie was being shot. But the underlying threads of good guys and bad guys, true love that wins over all, and redemption hit home for everyone. So many great films. Glad you enjoyed a classic.

[@A23457]

Six of the AFI’s top 100 film quotes are in this movie. More than any other picture. Gin joints. Here’s lookin. Paris. Beautiful friendship. Play it. Suspects.

[@josht9253]

Cool fact about Conrad Veidt the actor whom played Major Strasser. He was Cesare in the 1920 German Expressionist classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, he was the inspiration for the Joker in The Man Who Laughs, he was German, bisexual and married to a Jewish woman. When the Nazis told him to divorce his wife he told them to Eff off and fled to England before coming to Hollywood. He funded the British up until the US declared war. He told the producers of Casablanca that he would only play the role if he was allowed to make Strasser the most vile person ever. Died of a heart attack on the golf course shortly after Casablanca’s release.

[@jamenta2]

"Here's looking at you kid", one of the most famous lines in film history - was not even in the original script. Humphrey Bogart was saying the line to Ingrid Bergman on-set between shoots. They liked it so much they put it in the movie and the rest is history. Note that the first 10 minutes of the film is mostly fluff. You don't even really need to see it to follow the rest of the story, which only really gets started when Ilsa and Victor shows up at Rick's cafe. Which was more common back then in 1942 when people went to see movies in the theater (a lot more than today) and it was more common for the theater not to be really settled down until 10-15 minutes into the film. There wasn't a half hour of pre-movie advertisements. So the first sequences of Casablanca are throwaway, to let the 1940s audience "settle in." Casablanca has frequently been voted as one the greatest films of all time by popular opinion polls. The complex, moving romantic story is interlaced with a political theme of neutrality and love etc. I personally think Simone was right about Ilsa - she really loved Rick more than she loved Laszlo emotionally - since she never used the word "Love" with him. But she probably could never have lived with herself if she had left Laszlo after marrying him - so Rick made the right choice for both of them in the end - in the very famous film scene at the airport. And who knows, maybe none of this amounts to a hill of beans anyway right? Do you believe in Love??

[@alfredroberthogan5426]

There is NO "fluff" whatsoever in 1942's "Casablanca." Every word and every scene deliver. And the film is incredibly fast--paced.

[@jamenta2]

@@alfredroberthogan5426 Yeah - you're superior acumen apparently sees through all the possible fluff. I'm sure about that Alfred.

[@TequilaToothpick]

The greatest movie ever made. Victor Lazlow is just one of the greatest role models in cinema too and his role in the film is incredibly underrated.